Presenting an insightful selection of contemporary Chinese cocktails, The Merchant at Sam Fancy is a little corner of cultural diaspora.
From the role of Asian bartenders in the evolution of Tiki cocktail culture to the Chinese Vietnamese origins of iconic chilli sauce Sriracha, Asian influence has pushed the culinary and mixology envelope for centuries, yet these far-reaching cultural contributions are often not widely acknowledged.
Returning after a brief hiatus, Hong Kong’s The Merchant, the 30-seat speakeasy atop the more vibrant Sam Fancy bar in Lan Kwai Fong (and not to be confused with the new restaurant of a similar name), celebrates the history and innovation behind Eastern-influenced flavours by turning the lens onto the modern Chinese American experience with an ingenious new menu of cocktails — one that mixology mavens and casual sippers alike are sure to appreciate.
The Merchant continues Sam Fancy’s conversation into the evolution of Asian-American culture (the bar is named after the Cantonese transliteration of San Francisco during the California Gold Rush) and owner-operator Jonathan Ching’s (formerly of The Wilshire) passion for innovative cocktails inspired by his third culture upbringing.
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Amidst interiors inspired by Chinese architecture, including circular bar shelving reminiscent of a traditional Chinese moon door, Ching reinterprets time-honoured classic American cocktails (and not just the favourites from the East Coast) spanning the past 200 years with modern ingredients and techniques.
Highlights include the Revolver, a fragrant coffee cocktail invented by Californian “Bartender’s Bartender” Jon Santer in 2004, with bourbon, coffee liqueur and orange bitters — with the orange flavour elevated by a spark of flamed citrus; and a rift on the Pisco Punch made famous at San Francisco’s Bank Exchange bar, which opened in 1854. The original recipe by Duncan Nichols features a secret ingredient that is hotly contested to this day, but at The Merchant, it’s made with a fortified wine blend and mosto verde pisco, chosen to balance the cocktail’s sweetness and add a refreshing fruity flavour.
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No bar would claim inspiration from Chinese American culture without tipping a hat to the American tiki experience, where culturally appropriated tropical drinks flowed freely in the quintessential kitschy Chinese diner found across the US, spreading to become global staples. The Mai Tai (Deluxe) features only top-shelf ingredients for the Tiki classic, including two types of extremely rare aged rum: Jamaican Hampden Estate and Saint James Rhum XO from Martinique.
Other signature cocktails showcase Jonathan’s keen experimentation with Eastern liquors, ingredients and cross-cultural stories. The Empty Hand is a spirit-forward drink featuring Ryukyu Tsuchi awamori, gentian herbal liqueur, blanc vermouth, rounded out by the smoothness of sous vided pandan, and is, as Jonathan says, “microdosed with absinthe.”
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Alternatively, and truly representative of the third culture experience, the Las Americas (which was inspired by a farcical situation in which Ching found himself stepping into a watch shop in America whose Chinese owners were yelling at each other in Spanish) is made with Bacardi Ocho rum, honey, mango, lime, cucumber and a hint of Huy Fong Sriracha, itself a hot sauce invented by an ethnically Chinese, Vietnamese refugee who landed in America in the 1970s via Hong Kong.
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